Canton gives control of crime lab to SCOG

By Laurie HuffmanThe Review Published: August 14, 2013 3:00 AM

The question of who should be in charge of Stark County's crime lab came up again during the Stark Council of Governments Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday, and this time, a major change was agreed upon.

Most recently, the safety service director for Canton was in charge of the crime lab employees, including hiring and discipline, although SCOG had say-so regarding operations. And, in the past, the authority has also been given to the Canton chief of police.

SCOG Executive Committee Chair Tom Bernabei, who is also the president of the board of county commissioners, told the committee he has held recent meetings with the mayor of Canton, William Healy II, to discuss the matter, and the two came away with a recommendation to the committee that SCOG assume appointing authority over the lab. Bernabei said collaboration was considered, but it was decided a "bigger leap" was needed.

"Being that the crime lab is a county-wide function, SCOG is the most appropriate one to have authority," said Healy. "The entire SCOG board was not being briefed on everything that was going on in the crime lab before because the city's safety service director was acting as both the appointing authority and as manager. That was a problem." Healy went on to say he doesn't believe a city should be in charge of hiring for a county agency.

It was agreed the Canton Law Office will draw up a contract to be reviewed by the committee, hopefully by Sept. 3, the date of the next general SCOG membership meeting. That way, Bernabei said an executive committee meeting can be called earlier in the day for review so the contract can be submitted for a vote by the general membership on the same day.

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SCOG will make recommendations for hiring and for employee wages, benefits and discipline, and the city of Canton will carry out those directives, the committee decided. According to Kris Bates, an attorney with the Canton Law Office, simply stated, the contract will agree that SCOG will manage the crime lab for Canton. Bates said this is a "very good, very feasible" way to handle the crime lab oversight. She pointed out, however, that if something were to go wrong, SCOG could be pulled into a lawsuit as the appointing authority. It was noted all SCOG members are insured. Bernabei said details still have to be worked out related to making the crime lab workers SCOG employees, among other things.

Committee member Vince Marion asked if the authoritative decision is in line with the goal to have the county's DNA testing done by the state. Bernabei answered the action is addressing the governance side of the crime lab. He said the operational side is an effort still in progress.

Michelle Foster, interim crime lab director, reported the lab currently has a part-time DNA tech leader, Dawn Fryback, who was recently hired. Two other technicians work as consultants on an as-needed basis, Dennis Florea, who is a former crime lab employee, and Douglas Rohde. The lab is currently sending the majority of its DNA testing to the state, but is still handling chemistry, such as drug and alcohol analysis and fire debris, and firearms and fingerprinting. "The delays in getting the DNA results back sooner the crime lab was experiencing was the result of the funding not being there to allow the proper staffing," Foster said following the meeting.

Other business included an update on the county-wide 911 dispatch center consolidation by Joe Concatto and Gonzalez, who said the RED Center is preparing to move into the Canton dispatch center by around July. The move will place about 75 percent of the county's dispatching into one system, in two buildings, and once it is successfully completed, there will be a request made to place SCOG in charge of the Stark County dispatch facility as well.